Smashing Pumpkins may not have quite entered the common vernacular as a compliment on a certain pair of body parts but the Billy Corgan-fronted band have probably left the consciousness of many in recent times. Not to panic, though, remember the announcement last year that they were/are releasing 44 individual songs for free over a prolonged time period? Called Teargarden by Kaleidyscope or something.

Yeah, well, as was also said then, they plan to release several EPs to cover these releases, to put them into 'volumes', eleven of them. The initial one of these is now very much on the way and is called Vol. 1: Songs For A Sailor, being released on May 25. It will be a limited edition release, packaged in a 'silk-screened wooden box', with each box containing the 4-track CD, a 7" record and a...hand-carved obelisk, just for good value.

Also, as part of the imminent Record Store Day, if you pre-order the EP from your local indie record store, you'll get an exclusive black light poster. Though I'm not sure how exclusive they are. Still, a poster's a poster. ALSO, if you happen to be reading this in LA, which is quite unlikely, the first 250 fans to pre-order it from Amoeba Records on Sunset will get a wristband to watch the band perform at Urban Outfitters Space 15 Twenty on the same day. Which'd be cool, no?

I think there's been three songs so far, which can all be listened to and downloaded below, at a bitrate which appears slightly deficient. I guess that's an incentive to buy the EPs, then.